Ages of Shadow
by Eduard Kassel
Summary: Years after falling to the darkness, Jade Chan has finally been defeated by the J Team and their allies; and been banished. In defeat and isolation Jade Chan must face a challenge like nothing she has ever encountered before. What lies in wait for the fallen hero in the millennia that stretch before her? What shall she loose and what will she become, in the Ages of Shadow? FourShot
1. First Age

Disclaimer: I do not own Jackie Chan Adventures

Inspired by: Her Shadowed Realm, a Yu Gi Oh-JCA Crossover by CryptIXeeper

Waring: Sanity Slippage and other unpleasantness both of the mind and body occur in this story.

* * *

Ages of Shadow

**First Age:**

_The Exile_

The Shadow Realm stretched before her, impossibly vast. Shades of darkness, swirling in impotent flurries or cyclones, enduring for ages or subsiding in moments. And she had looked long enough to realize there could be even briefer disturbances that passed so quickly, only attentive staring revealed their existence.

Stillness and stability was to be prized, even though the strongest of winds here could only send her hair flying.

The Queen of the Shadow Realm watched her realm pass her by with disinterest. Her beloved serpents, the only subjects she could now claim, swam about her, their wind canceling any disturbance. Two rested on her blue lap, while another draped across her shoulder. They were cool and smooth, soothing against her skin.

The throne she sat upon was hard, black stone, which truly was merely condensed shadows. As was the dais it sat upon, the courtyard the dais rose from, and the four walls that rose like a child's drawing of a castle all around it.

The fortress now floated aimlessly in the shadows, the throne raised as ever to look beyond the walls.

It was drifting, possibly turning upside down, though Jade could only tell such by the shift of her hair. The tangled spikes hung over her glowing red eyes and covered her blue chest before spilling out around the throne to hang off the platform. She had only recently realized, through inquiring of the snakes, that the first tip had touched the floor.

She looked without looking on her realm. The Queen by default. Her thoughts far way, in time and space.

XXX

"WHAT?!" she had roared, clutching her belly. Pulling her clawed hand away, red eyes widened at the sight of blood. Despite everything that he would spill her blood was not something she expected.

She looked up at the mostly silver-haired sumo, who watched her sadly through his glasses. And then everything truly went wrong.

The glorious shadow fortress she had raised evaporated before her eyes, the legions of Shadowkhan holding her enemies captive releasing them and sinking back into the nothingness of shadows once again.

Spreading her arms, she willed them back, invoking the power she had stolen by right of duel from the King and all his Generals. She was the Shadowkhan! She was the shadows! They would obey her!

Only they did not, as the light of day reached her and her freed foes she continued to stand alone.

"How!?" she demanded of Tohru as the wizard approached her with infuriating calm. His wand, a simple quill? No…

"The Book of Ages?" she questioned.

"The pen that it can be written with. The other you gave me the clue, and I still just barely figured it out in time," he said, looking to the sky with her. The rogue planet was passing, freed of her influence, the Earth no longer in danger of being trapped in the shadow of the lifeless world.

Ten years of waiting for the right time to escape her cell for nothing?!

"It's over, Jade," Jackie said. She cast an irritated look at the old man who she had once thought of as a second father. With the other one long dead, she supposed that made him the position by default. His once cool wife was with him, and those annoying twins looked ready to spring into action.

As if it would make a difference what those two posers would do. She sneered, taking in those surrounding her in the once more pleasant Chinese meadow. All of them either past their prime, or the lesser, younger generations.

"Over? It is never over for me, Jackie. Every chapter's end leads into the next. Ever since I ascended, you have never done more than set me back. For nearly a decade you thought I was beaten by Uncle's spell, reduced to a mere long-lived human, and that I would have decades to turn back into that do-gooder agent I was before I put on the red mask?" Jade laughed.

Tohru spoke again as the agents leveled their weapons at her.

"You put that mask on to save us all. You were willing to risk yourself then for those you loved. I now know it was a sacrifice of life. You won the battle of wills against Tarakudo and all his Generals, but at the price of your own. It wasn't just that you became the Shadowkhan race, your own will was broken by the ordeal, propped up by the power that began to corrupt you the moment you achieved your goal.

"Sensei could not restore your flesh because you had traded your soul to darkness to save us all," Tohru sadly recalled his late teacher.

"And I killed him for it! And I only felt vindication for offing the old goat! My only regret was how quick it was. You won't get off so easy.

"Because you can lock me up! But I will be back! I am inevitable! You will never be able to kill me, and no prison on this Earth can hold me."

"Jade, look at your stomach," Tohru sighed. Jade looked down at the shredded patch of her robes, wiping the blood away to reveal designs etched there. Glowing green. She read the spell – it cut her off from the Shadowkhan… and the Earth plane?

"No, you can't seal me! I anticipated that – I can't be imprisoned like those scaly losers!" Jade hollered as the spell started to glow.

"This isn't imprisoning, it's evicting! You were able to take all that power into yourself, and I wondered, why did Tarakudo not do the same? Why was he the only one of the Oni Lords to take refuge in the Shadow Realm or hide his mask there?

"Because power comes with a price! Each General had the risk of being too attuned to an element; the Shadow Realm gave them power, but like a magnetic pull, drawing too close could imprison them. Tarakudo was wise enough to let his subordinates carry the risk while he ruled the power through them!

"But you have that power inside you, all of it! Even if you can't use it, you can never rid yourself of it, not if even sensei's best effort failed."

Jade cried out as she fell into her own shadow, grabbing the ground in front of her as tendrils of darkness rose from the shadow.

"Jade!" Jackie called. Viper and his children grabbed him, restraining even him from taking a step forward.

"Jade's long gone, Jackie. It's time to bury the dead," Viper whispered to him, before burying her face in his back.

Jade began to chant a spell, before a tendril slipped under her chin and tightened like a noose. She didn't need the air much, but that didn't make it any less impossible to speak.

"Goodbye, Jade. Know that I wish I had died before it came to this. I protect the world in the name of who you were, and perhaps will be again with a lifespan of terrifying length before you.

"Farewell," it was said with a whisper; the last sight before her claws were ripped free was a tear falling from behind the glasses. It was so small, but caught the light. Looking back, she could not deny it was beautiful, as far as the last sight of light went.

XXX

And it was the last, she admitted. Her mobile fortress built of mastery of shadow had let her track down the spark flashes. They were indeed portals that existed so quick they ended as soon as they began. But she was repelled from them. Even if she could find a way to stabilize or prolong them, she would never be able to step through them.

And her hair – the last time indicator left – by her calculations, told her a hundred Earth years had passed.

She was not Shendu. There was no point in avenging yourself on strangers. Revenge was dead, and there was no escape.

Her scream moved the shadows and birthed new storms.

XXX

Rage is like a fire. It needs fuel. And frankly, she had realized she no longer saw the effort of fueling the rage as worthwhile. Thus, rage passed.

The snakes had suffered at her hands, she recalled regretfully. Several had surely escaped her claws, spells, and fangs, but they would be scattered, difficult to herd back. And perhaps even more difficult to win their affection back.

She realized she had fallen asleep sometime after demolishing the fortress. She had not slept since escaping her cell back on Earth. But then, she had been sitting in that blasted chaos for how long, obsessively searching for escape?

Was she thinking more clearly because she let some poison out with the tantrum, or because of sleeping after a hundred years and more of wakefulness?

Come to think of it, how long had she been asleep? Opening her eyes, she saw she was floating in the shadows. No debris of the demolished fortress was in evidence. Some time then, judging by her hair…

She frowned at the tangled mass draping around her. Since the shadows had rotted her clothes, it had been her only claim to modesty, and the only way to measure time in this place.

Really, there wasn't any point to either concern now, was there? Her snakes did not have clothes either, and if there was neither escape nor vengeance to be had, what was time?

Gathering up the mass, she managed with some effort to grab most of it in one fist, while sharpening her claws on the other hand.

Snip, snip, snip.

"Ah, much better," Jade smiled, exposing her sharp teeth.

Much of the mass hung free now, and with patient snips, she cut the rest free. There was no hurry, and while no stylist, she wanted an even cut.

She decided to leave her hair at waist length, and coating her hands in liquefied shadow, began to work the much-reduced mane. She had not realized how much the tangles had bothered her until her hand was floating free through her fingers.

Her appearance tended to, she considered the mass of hair. Was there a use for it? No reason not to take the time to find out.

XXX

She had napped three times before finishing with her cut hair. Untangling it had been fair more difficult. Then she had decided to braid it, a task made difficult by the winds trying to take it from her. But at last, she had a rope of her own hair three times as long as she was tall.

"And what to do with it?" she wondered. On a lark, she decided to imbue it with shadow and see what happened. The shadows poured over it, seeping into and around the tightly bound follicles, smoothing it out until it was just a smooth cord, with a slightly scaled texture.

It felt nice, but still, she wasn't sure what to do with it. Wrapping a portion of it on her torso from her waist to below her chest, she set off into the shadows, the free rope trailing behind her.

Finding the new schools of snakes had been difficult. They had been trying to avoid her, and could seem to sense her as she did them. Judging from the haircuts she had given herself since, she guessed it took twenty or so years to gather back up two hundred of the durable creatures to keep her company.

The rope had been critical in letting her tie her wayward darlings up so she had time to pamper them back into trusting her. Well worth it.

But now that she was content with her flock, she was wondering what to do next?

She had disposed of the rope as a gesture of trust in her snakes, fussing it into a circular mat, which she now sat on.

She supposed she could build another fortress. But she had never liked the thing. And it was too delicate – it had quickly crumbled under her assault.

She recalled how she had made it like her fortress back on Earth. That one had quickly collapsed between being cut off from her power and the sun.

"I must make something that can last," she decided. Holding out her hands, she narrowed her glowing eyes in concentration. When sweat was running down her brow she stopped, holding a shimmering black brick in her hands.

With a grunt, she squeezed it between her hands. Then squeezed again with her magic flowing through her limbs. It cracked slightly just before she let up the pressure.

"Well, this is something," Jade grinned.

She decided a box with a door to sleep in on her mat would be a good start.

XXX

A dozen snakes trailed behind Jade as she walked though the West Gallery. Her eyes roamed over the columns; this gallery was in the Greek style learned from Jackie and a long line of long-suffering teachers. The other three had their own styles, including her old native China's styles.

She looked on them, recalling the labor and accidents in making this fusion of Western and Asian tastes and styles. Her Grand Palace of Shadows.

Still, even as she built up chamber after chamber, taking the trial and error approach to mastering engineering and architecture, the allure was fading. By her estimates, the island was now 1.75 kilometers across. About half of that was covered by her palace complex. But it was just a bauble, save for the serpentarium and her bedchambers.

There was no one to impress – the snakes could be impressed, but she had realized she was just having conversations with herself. She had stopped talking to them for years she had been so offended they would trick her like that.

The very idea that they weren't really impressed with her budding talents as a designer of palaces hurt more than she cared to admit. So she just had to impress herself, which sadly was harder than she had appreciated.

How was she to have known she was such a tough audience?

She blew a stray spike of hair out of her face. Without the conditioning regularly, her longer hair had long since reverted to the old spikes, just longer.

She had tried making clothes out of her hair, making just some underwear, but found herself out of the habit. Just as she had never liked shoes much, and hated to wear socks, it seemed the trend had moved up from her feet. In retrospect, she was glad she wasn't too well endowed; that might have forced her to make practical concessions.

Still, she found it annoying that her hair was only useful when she cut it off…

XXX

A fine mixture, to create liquid from shadows. The shallow pool before her was all her efforts so far. Both to complete the Roman look of this gallery with a proper pool, and to finally create a mirror. After all, she wanted to be able to appreciate what she had done with her body.

It had started with her hair. And realizing she could ensue shadows into it while it was still attached.

That first spike had been a shock, as the imbuement unexpectedly carried from the follicle down into her scalp. She could feel the roots being infused, in her head!

She had waited awhile to see the result with that one spike. It reminded her a bit of a rhino horn, the hair compressed to the point of being a solid. Only, rather than being like a bone, this was more… membranous. It was soft, and quite flexible, flopping about in her hand even as she sharpened its point so it could leave a mark on her palace.

She had still not been sold, until after one snake swiped another away from snuggling her cheek. Without thinking, her spike had slapped the bully aside.

Gathering every last stray hair into its spike and then infusing them all into head tails was only a natural reaction as far as she was concerned. After all, she had eight more appendages now that were even longer than her arms!

It was only after waking up from the resulting long nap she realized she no longer had any hair to grow and harvest into cushions.

Oh well, she had been meaning to further experiment in different textures and densities in creating what she had dubbed shadow mass. Tossing one such rock between two of her head tails, she turned away from the mirror.

XXX

Making rocks that were soft but not crumbly and worthless was much harder than it seemed. The closest she had gotten was something resembling pumice.

Frustrated, she had decided it was high time to expand the island project again. By her guess, it was over two and a half kilometers now, with foundations for the next levels of construction. One, she planned to be a bathhouse, where she would concentrate her further shadow water works. But before she could begin construction in earnest, she needed to expand the island so it could support it without destabilizing, or worse, part of it crumbling!

Still, she had always hated walking the perimeter beyond the walls she had raised. Looking up through the skylights at the red and black tides, or through the windows, she could pretend it was a world.

But when on the literal edge, and when flying around to inspect the lower mass, she could not quite ignore the fact. Her palace was just a speck in her kingdom of emptiness.

No one came, and she could not leave. Normally, between sleep, work, experimenting, or planning, there was no time to think about the old days. Really, she was surprised Jackie had not gone rogue to try and bring her back. And no one came in all this time to see the Shadow Realm? Had Tohru used spells like the old ones on the Demon Netherworld on the Shadow Realm?

Shadow Netherworld did sound pretty badass.

'Oh look, eleven snakes flying in a v formation! Awesome!' she thought.

They certainly moved through the void better than she did. And it did not seem to bother them, even though there were now thousands wandering her halls and resting in the nests she had built in the serpentariums. The new one she had planned would include little snake-sized holes in the wall to help prevent potential traffic congestion.

Another triumph of engineering by the finest architect in the Shadow Netherworld!

There was no competition! None. At. All.

Back to the snakes. They came from here, so that meant they were adapted. So they held up great here because they were adapted, like how easily they swam here.

Of course! It was staring her in the face the whole time.

She abandoned the current task. The palace expansion could wait. It was time to treat herself some.

XXX

Jade moaned, rolling her eyes as she swam though the bathing pool. The purple dark chi lights in the corners were the only light, as this room's two doors did not face any sky. Her head tails shook themselves as she slid up the slope out of the black liquid. The heat from an earlier spell was wearing off, time to get out.

If not for self-imposed limits, who knew what kind of crazy stuff she might get up to?

In he before life, she had always taken time to admire herself after bathing, and she had revived that tradition.

A more fruitful revival than eating had been. She didn't know if lack of use had shriveled her stomach to the size of a grape or if shadows just tasted that bad. Either way, any more than a few bites of spongy shadow dumplings made her cough them back up as useless pumice rocks.

But the bathing pool worked just as well as its cousin the reflecting pool, so long as you did not mind purple lighting.

She flared the flames with a gesture, and beheld the glory of herself.

Extending her spine had been her sole intent. A tail to better travel through the void and better fit in with the snakes. But once the tail was working, she hated how scrawny and bony it was.

By the time she was done, that boney atrocity was a relic; shadow infused muscle and bone growth had occupied her for ages. Why, she might have gone another five centuries in her makeover, it occurred to her. Maybe a thousand, it hardly mattered, there was still time to touch up the palace a bit.

But the results, like with the former waste of space known as her hair, had been well worth it. The majority of her body was a thick, powerful, smooth tail. It had a snake texture to appeal to her subjects, shades of blue and black worked into it as a simple but elegant geometric pattern. The sheer sensation of slithering, as all those muscles and bones moved, was… very painful at first. But pain had been such a novelty at that point she had not cared.

But once the final kinks and ligaments were worked out, she was certain the tail was better than walking had ever been. And it allowed a smooth transition from land-based travel to flying through the island's air or the void.

She had left her torso fleshy because she already liked her ever-youthful figure up there. But her obsolete legs had puzzled her, before yet another flash of obvious.

Compared to the tail, that project had been sheer simplicity; she smiled at her reflection, clasping all four of her hands as she did so. The new arms were naturally far longer, and stronger, than the upper arms. The fingers were not quite as dexterous, and bigger to go with the bigger hands, but still, four arms, a great tail, and a head full of handy razor-sharp appendages.

She finally looked like a Queen fit to reside in the Grand Palace of the Shadow Netherworld.

XXX

She felt she was finally getting the Grand Palace right. Between the plantless gardens, grand and lesser buildings from the styles and cultures across the world and history, it had still lacked something.

Art.

It had begun with a worry that she might be forgetting things. Such as her mother's face.

That worry had lead to her carving the face from memory into the stone of a bedchamber wall. Granted, it took a few tries, and she had to replenish the wall with a fresh coat a couple dozen times. But as ever, her persistence had triumphed.

The key, she found, was limb delegation. While her tail could steadily lift and lower her, Jade's greater arms did the big work, detail work fell to her lesser arms, and her head tails with their clever tips handled the fine detail.

Her mother had come back from the dead in a stone likeness.

After which, it was only fair to give her father the same courtesy. In his best suit, no less.

And so, the Grand Carving of Memory had begun. Not since the Becoming of True Serpentine Self had a project held such attention, stirred such interest in her. Or rendered such a variety of praise or biting criticism from the snakes.

Kwon was always on her for the noses, but Bob thought her art was really developing to master level. Though she wished they didn't all sound like they had the same voice. Sometimes it sounded suspiciously like her own voice. But of course, her voice was not so hissy or husky.

Hmm, she should check to make sure they weren't smoking behind her back. Terrible habit.

And she should ask why they had manly names when they were all girls. Sometimes she did not know about those adorable buggers she kept inviting over for sleepovers.

The Garden of J was planned for a long time; she had wanted to get it perfect the first time. And she had, creating the stone chunks, bonding them, cutting them, adding here or there. It took several nap cycles just to finish one.

But in the end, the J-Team stood rendered in stone, looking over the rock garden. Jackie Chan in his prime, mighty Tohru in his massiveness, El Toro with a mask that could not be removed, sexy cool Viper, Uncle in his senior ass-kicking glory, and a double for Paco – the kid sidekick edition, and the luchadore man he became.

It was perfect, but whenever she went to look at the J-Team, she felt like something was missing from their silent ranks in the tribute to the heroes. The vacant spot… she had forgotten why she set it aside. She had captured them all in stone, so why did that empty spot make her want to curl up in some corner and weep?

All the more reason to not go into the Garden of J. Besides, she had her life story to preserve in stone. Murals carved into the wall.

And while a picture was worth a thousand words, words were also worth words, and she thought too many of her murals upon the walls and columns were mute.

But what language to immortalize her epic story in? Chinese, the language of her homeland? English, the language of her adopted home? Japanese, the language of the friend/foe who had defeated her, as well as the tongue of her race? Or perhaps Spanish, the language of…

Well, she had opted for all, after a fashion. A new language, made from a combination of the four written languages. It took a couple of decades, and many a discarded stone tablet, but Chanish was now the official language of the Shadow Netherworld.

She could now add scholar to her list of Queenly virtues, achievements, stats, etc.

XXX

There was nothing quite like finishing writing your life's story. So she had decided not to find out, stopping the prose/pictograph narrative at her epic curbstomp of that one bad guy she put the red mask on to defeat. Seemed like a good stopping place, for some reason.

But there was still space to decorate, so she kept sculpting. One courtyard she filled with statues of her favorite comic book heroes. Another with villains, of course. She captured all of their adventures she could remember on the walls and columns, the most epic edition ever, without a doubt.

When that well went dry, she both resumed expansion of the palace and island, and moved onto cartoons, movies, musicians, books, and other stuff.

Now it had come down to all the history and mythology she had learned over the course of her life.

Her memory seemed quite improved from what she recalled. Perhaps it was because reaching down into her head to transcribe it made her feel like she was living in that world of light and people again?

Well, the important thing was that her wing on Germany – drawing from school lessons, adventures there, and the five months she had lived in Frankfurt – was coming along well. Her Grand Palace was also the Library of Stone-Etched Knowledge.

With how much time had passed, it occurred to her that this record of hers might be the last record that these people, stories, and places existed. Such a solemn duty only naturally fell to a Queen.

The feeling caused her to destroy the nose of Fredrick the Great.

Lowering her back to rest on her coils, all four of her hands stroked her stomach.

She had not tried to eat anything in ages. But this didn't even feel like that.

And now the sensation was in her head, entering her brain though the nose and eyes and making its way back out through her head tails.

She did not know this feeling; she needed to get outside. Getting outside was very important right now she knew.

It had been a long time since she slithered at full speed, kicking up a cloud of dust in her wake and startling the school of snakes making their way through the corridors. It occurred to her this was fun enough that she should do it more often. Maybe build a race track?

Reaching the courtyard she wanted, she slithered up the black, and still blank, obelisk that dominated the open space. Reaching the top, she curled her tail around the monument to a monument, and peered to the distant horizon, just beyond the city limits of her palace, and beyond the undeveloped shadow land destined to be covered in the ages to come.

Something was stirring in the void of red and black.

She had never felt it, but looking out there with a belly full of feelings she could only half recall, a word made its way to her lips.

"Company."

* * *

NEXT CHAPTER: **Second Age:** _The Goddess_

**Author's Note:**

It was only after I was mostly done with this chapter I realized Jade is in many ways a crazy cat lady by this point.

To quote Genie: "Then Thousand years will give you such a crink in the neck!"

Well here we start this fourshot OI have been kicking around in my head. I happened to update SotT next, but horror is hard to write. At least unlike other new stories this one will be a brief project. War of Nations is also coming along nicely.

Hope you enjoyed it. Long days and pleasant nights to you all.


	2. Second Age

_Disclaimer:_ I do not own Jackie Chan Adventures

_Betaed by:_ Zim'sMostLoyalServant

_Special thanks:_ To Trackula for creating the magnificent cover art for this story depicting Jade as she appears in this chapter. Many thanks!

_Warning:_ descriptions of violence, death,and _lemon_ flavored situations.

* * *

**Second Age:**

_The Goddess_

Jade sat on her throne as she extended her senses. She had long since dispensed with the chair-like throne for something a bit more classic. Chairs no longer appealed to her, and couches were too informal for this hall. Instead, she rested her coils on a raised platform, taller than she herself could reach, covered with a Chinese-style tile canopy of blue and black, with red trimming and columns of red marbled with black holding it up.

No stairs approached it; if anyone called on her, there was no easy path of ascent for them to reach her level. They would have to look up, as she rested upon the cushion-lined basin the platform held.

The wall behind it, illuminated by two massive dark chi torches, showed off a mural carved into the stone, displaying warriors of each of the Shadowkhan tribes. And stretching before her, lining the football field-sized chamber, were the Oni Columns. Each of the columns rendered in giant size the Oni Generals and their King. Her defeated foes, immortalized in stone, eternally emulating Atlas, snarling in pain and fury as they held up the roof of her throne room pressing down on them.

It was here she sat, and watched the void through the eyes of Iyasu, Kwon, Bob, and Lesley. Discovering she could see through the eyes of the snakes had finally freed her of the chore of leaving the island's surface to examine the island's foundations. Now they went forth to search the void for the company she sensed.

Seeing through four different sets of eyes had been a headache-inducing drag at first. But now it was merely an annoyance, as they delved into the void on her behalf.

A flare of magic alerted her, and through her, that Kwon was closest. The green eyes of the snake fixed on its heading, and it darted through the shadows. Smiling wide, Jade's head tails curled and uncurled in excitement, and even the tip of her great tail was flicking about.

This was literally the most excitement she had felt in ages. What was out there? She had no idea. With even her most extreme actions well planned, she had forgotten how much she liked the unpredictability.

When Kwon caught sight of the company, Jade was at once thrilled, and disappointed.

The group of humans was a fantastic sight, but frankly it seemed an anticlimax for such as this to break her isolation. A bunch of men in black robes and red head wraps watching… what were they watching?

She noticed they were not curious about their surroundings. She had lost track of their magic a number of times, and waited for it to return. She had thought it was still close to the first time, but maybe those interludes had been longer than she realized?

Just how long had her poor snakes been searching the void?

A flare of magic brought her attention back to the gaggle of wizards. Less than fifty, more than thirty, she guessed. She realized wizard duels were in progress – they seemed to be drawing off the magic of the Shadow Realm, to power… puppets? Dolls? Oh, homunculi!

Nothing like the Rat; these were given motion only as extensions of their wielders' will, she noted. Then it seemed the rules were broken, as one of the black-clad duelists stepped into the ring, wielding a spear. The spear tip burned with a white light, and seemed to weep.

No one interfered as he fought alongside his puppets, and in short order vanquished his foe. The victor's spear darkened, and then light was torn from his eyes, pouring into the spear, restoring its glow.

Jade admitted to being impressed, as the dark bearded man did not flinch at having a small piece of his soul ripped out. His opponent wailed and tied to flee, only for his comrades to push him back into the ring.

Light burst from his eyes and connected with his grinning vanquisher. The light of his soul went out in him, and the man faded from sight as he fell.

The spearman raised his spear in a victory cry, unmistakable despite the unknown words. She watched the second match conclude. Both men stayed on the sidelines, and when one group of puppets vanquished the other, only a fragment of soul changed hosts.

Gambling with their very souls. How masochistic, Jade thought with detached disgust. Still, she was feeling the heat. From both excitement at not only getting company, but also entertainment. And the fact she was being cheated!

The Shadow Netherworld was her kingdom! Miserable and empty the void might be, but it was hers. And these thieves would acquire it for their own use? Without so much as asking her leave?

Well, if they wanted to play, they would have to pay, she decided. She watched as the spearman pulled a round silver medallion the size of a pocket watch out from his robes. At words of unknown meaning but unmistakable power, a doorway of light appeared in the darkness.

Sunlight. Even through a snake, it was a sight that made her eyelids tighten. And then they were gone.

She moaned at the ease of their escape. But realized they would be back.

Opening her eyes, she took a deep breath and let out a long deep hiss that echoed through the palace like thunder.

Through the hidden serpent holes and the grand doorway, her snakes flew into her presence in the hundreds, if not a thousand. She took a few moments just to watch them swim about the air in the room, reminding her a bit of the ocean as they floated around the throne.

"Search the void. Send your sight to me when you find the humans," she commanded, raising all her hands. Without a word, they departed as they came, swift but without crowding or any other disorder.

Smiling widely, she hugged herself so hard she couldn't breath for a few minutes. Releasing the grip on herself, she let her head tails relax from a tension she had overlooked. Rearranging the cushions with her lower arms, she curled up to sleep on the throne.

She wanted to be fresh when the guests came back. Her mother always said a hostess has a duty to entertain.

XXX

Jade had been sleeping peacefully, dreaming of the time she bought the twins ice cream after that whole goblins incident in Boston. They had been such a handful that she had sworn that the higher powers were exacting vengeance on Jackie's behalf. One of the few times it was just her and them, before the Red Mask.

The taste of chocolate ice cream was swept away with the realization that she was under attack.

Cushions tore and stone was gouged as her head tails struck out around her. Rearing up to her full height, Jade spread her arms, ready for a fight. Only to realize she was very much alone.

Closing her eyes, she realized Bob had been attacked. Though he was okay, the whiskered wizard in black and red was staring at him, stunned. A bit of focus on Bob revealed the attack had been a weak blast of shadow magic. Against a creature of the Shadow Netherworld, really?

The snakes reacted to one of their own being attacked by the intruder. Jade did not realize they were present until they swarmed the screaming man, tearing into his flesh.

"Well, that escalated quickly," she noted, watching the man get torn apart as the snakes devoured him, down to the last bloodstained scrap.

"Still, they were provoked," she defended their actions readily.

Hmm, she didn't want to fight. Killing all of them would not help her cause. What was the cause again?

She could work on that later. The man seemed alone, and she realized that closing the language barrier might be for the best before jumping into first contact.

Her unspoken request was answered as a door of light, smaller than last time, appeared, and another older wizard stepped through.

"Thank you," she said to whoever might be listening.

XXX

Soon enough, she was waiting before the 6th Gate of Lu Dongbin, looking out over the plains of the Undeveloped Lands. For the last six rings of construction, she had dedicated the eight gates into the Grand Palace to the Eight Immortals. She looked over the rock carving she had made, into the surrounding area for the next ring of the palace.

This ring would be a water one. A shallow pool filled with shadow water, with bridges and walkways connecting the structures, including a magnificent new bath house, including a heated rock bed for her relaxation and an adjustable spiral perch bed to help her sleep in positions that would take full advantage of the elasticity she was further developing in her muscular skeletal system.

It would be exhausting to create this much shadow water. She was actually considering something less ambitious. She could not properly see the void from here. The plains of black stone stretched out to the horizon before the island abruptly ended.

She felt a swell of pride, knowing she had created an island she estimated to a bit bigger than a circular Manhattan.

The emptiness did not loom, as it had for so long. Because now, there was something out there. And she saw her snakes come into view, carrying something securely bound with the living bodies of their kin.

"WELCOME!" she greeted the man as the swarm of snakes dropped him to the stones before her.

"fdsohfopasgo ipsdjfoifgg!" the mage cried, staring up at her, wide-eyed. Seemed he was bald under the turban-headscarf thing. Hmm, how long since she had seen a bald man? Wait, where was this one going?!

"Get back here!" she commanded. Overtaking him with utter ease, she swept in front of him and grabbed his arms by the wrist with her greater hands. He cried out more gibberish, staring at her.

"You seem shaken. Stunned by otherworldly beauty, no doubt. I suppose it is a bit much for mortals to handle," she tapped her chin thoughtfully while her head tails probed the inside of his robes and grabbed his head, turning it a bit left and right to give her a good look.

"We really must bridge this language barrier. I can't understand a word of your crazy moon language.

"Well, I have an idea, but this is going to be all kinds of hurt… for you," Jade told the mage. Two of the head tails seized his head at eye level as she unhinged her jaw with her lesser right hand.

*Crunch*

She thought some sound came out of him as she sank her fangs into his skull. But she was distracted as the knowledge she sought flowed into her. Her eyes narrowed, realizing what he had said before.

Pulling her teeth clear, she released him from the tentacles, but kept her lower grip on him. Snapping her jaw into place, she spat out some trace blood, and crossed her upper arms.

"Demon woman? The very idea! I have far more class and sass than those loser hacks.

…

"Are you dead? Ah crap, that wasn't supposed to kill you. They don't make wizards like they used too. Well, at least I got the language problem solved," She muttered, dropping the corpse.

Crossing all her arms, she decided to see what she had pulled from his robes. A rag, a scroll with some second rate shadow magic on it, a red scarf of silk. And a half-eaten apple.

She took a bite of the apple. It tasted… fantastic. She felt her whole body start to swing at the pleasant flavor.

XXX

"Ugh, apples," Jade groaned, looking at the pile of moist pumice she had just hurled up. Still worth it, she thought stubbornly.

Slithering onto the nearest couch, she thought about what to do next. She needed to make a good presentation to get this encounter working. After all, she didn't want them to pack their bags and leave her alone in the dark.

But what to offer? After establishing her dominance, of course.

Speaking of which, she couldn't show up baring her chest and expect a bunch of guys to take her seriously. She leaned up to look down at her chest. She really didn't want to wear clothes; she was too proud of all the hard work she had put into this body to cover up its glory. But then again, respect.

A middle ground occurred to her as she stopped wiping her belly with the silk. Yes, she was certain that could work. She carefully sliced the silk in half with a head tail and went to work.

Her upper hands spread the silk pieces over her chest, and her tails tucked them down. Since her little augmentation, there wasn't enough silk to cover entirely, but enough to both let her boast and protect her from perverted attention. Ready to begin, Jade secreted shadow from that part of her body. She closed her eyes, visualizing the fine cloth imbued completely with her shadow chi, and then fusing with it, her life devouring and replacing the cloth itself.

A warm tingling sensation was what it amounted to. When she opened her eyes, the shape of her breasts was as prominent as they had ever been, but a black membrane covered them, much of it leaving her cleavage unhindered. And as hoped, the membranes were as sensitive as any part of her body.

"Well, now that we are set to impress, time to start preparing to greet a party of guests, right Jun?" She asked the nearest snake.

XXX

Arses controlled his breathing as his homunculi gathered themselves before him. He had fought a dozen duels in the Dark Realm and still lived, his soul dagger in his belt having never even been used. His wealth and breeding, along with such achievements, made him a natural choice to lead their fellows, all of them.

But this young merchant before him, with his twenty and one victories, stood in his way. They could not afford a war among themselves, not with the peasant whispers starting to reach dangerous ears. Now was the time to tame their flock under the hand of a wise shepherd with a sharp knife.

And today he would become that shepherd, or his soul would belong to his foe.

The other man was smiling, his eyes fairly twinkling as the gathered wizards muttered. There were no more divisions of support – all were united in the certainty that leadership would be decided and the victor would grow still more powerful as result.

A white-bearded elder of their ranks – rare, that – stepped forward and began the binding spell that would tether their souls to the outcome.

The prospect of dying did not bother Arses; he knew it would come eventually, and for his sins, the gods would cast him into torment unending. But he hoped this wretched and powerful realm would not be his last sight.

"Serpents!" someone called out. The warning stopped the old man in mid-chant, leaving the spell to explode in his hands, tearing them to pieces. Arses watched with surprise, as shadow whirled about him in protection. The blue serpents with the green eyes. He had heard of their deadly breed, and as they ripped the old man to pieces in frenzy, he saw their reputation was warranted. But the tales all said that they were only dangerous if provoked, and never had he heard of the swarm that was now weaving through their panicky ranks.

"Another time, I think," he whispered, touching the medallion hanging from his neck though the tunic beneath his robes. The magic flared, but he felt it… hit something?

The door of light did not open. None were opening, as men began to scream that fact. Only he and his foe were not giving into panic, a testament to why this was a battle between two. He met the merchant's eyes, and they agreed silently that other than the old fool, no one was being attacked.

'This is why I hate this place. Too many mysteries – at least home has a foundation of knowledge one can stand on,' he thought.

As if at an unspoken command, the snakes ceased harassing the crowd and filled the still empty dueling space. As Arses watched, they formed into the shape of a sphere, a flowing sphere of blue.

"WHO TRESPASSES IN THE SHADOW NETHERWORLD?!" a deep, hissing voice demanded. Wait, was that a woman's voice?

"Who dares speak to the Walkers in Darkness so?!" His foe demanded. He had that glowing spear of his out, and Arses let his good hand drift toward the sheathed dagger.

The snakes broke their formation, shooting outward like arrows. They tore through the shadows around Arses; he could swear he felt one clip his shoulder. View unobstructed by shadows, he had no more eyes for the cowering lesser mages.

He looked upon what had come from the darkness.

It was female, though the chest, while bare, did not seem to hold true breasts, lacking nipples and full form, he noted. Rather than legs, a long, thick tail of blue and black coiled beneath it, like a throne. Save for the chest, the upper body was a rich dark blue. In addition to two arms at her shoulders, a second larger and longer set of arms were outstretched, holding purple flames in each hand. A beautiful blue face was marred by a snarl revealing rows of fangs, and red eyes glowed as they looked upon them. And headless black serpents dangled from her head, moving with a life of their own.

He reached out to probe this creature's mystic power, and recalled as a child what it was to stare into the noonday sun.

Arses fell to his knees, staring at the horrifying wonder before him. It spoke again, its voice echoing in the darkness.

"I am the Slayer of Demon Fire, the Second Wielder of the Twelve Powers, the Master of the Thirteen, the Sealer of Eight, and the Slayer of and Last of a Race that was ancient in days reckoned ancient by mortals. I am the Queen of the Shadow Netherworld, the Raiser of Wonders, and Mother of Serpents.

"I am Yade Khan, bow before me," she declared, the purple flames rising still higher.

"Demon," the merchant spat, and the spear flew like a falling star. A gesture of one of those large hands engulfed the shining spear in flames. Only the tip spun through, its light fading, to be caught by a smaller hand.

Arses clapped his hands together over his head; the sound drew Yade Khan's attention. As she watched, he lowered himself until his brow would have touched the ground if there were any.

He stayed in that position, even as he heard his foe scream and flesh and bone being torn and broken. The screams cut off, and Arses smiled to himself. He felt her approach, looming over him, and wondered if he was about to die.

"Raise your head and look upon me," Yade Khan demanded. Releasing his hands, he lifted his head, but stayed on his knees. She was so close he could reach out and touch her. He marveled at the tapering transition from a snake's underbelly to flawless blue skin, before looking up into her face. Never had he had to look up at someone so above him since he was a child. And he felt like a child, as the scent of ancientness and the hum of power engulfed his mages' senses.

"Goddess, what do you wish of this mortal?" he asked, finding his voice. She smiled again, and held one of her hands before him, opening it to reveal a spear blade, not glowing but veined with black.

Taking the offering, he gasped. She spoke in answer to his shock.

"His entire soul. And the seal is stable – the shadows bond it so it will endure the mortal world, not need to be replenished from bleed off. And far more powerful as a sorcerer's medium. My first gift to my followers, and personally to my new high priest.

"What is your name?"

"Arses," he answered. She blinked her glowing eyes and frowned.

"Really? That will not do at all. Very well, from this moment forth you will be known as… Himinion. Highest among the Shadow Walkers, first among my mortal servants.

"Now listen well to your goddess' wishes. For to please me is to earn great rewards, and to earn my wrath is death and soul's suffering," Yade Khan declared to the bowing, assembled wizards.

XXX

It was very good to have company, Jade thought yet again.

True, having people to talk to along with snakes took some getting used too, but once the details got ironed out and chipped into shape, she thought they had a healthy goddess-worshipper relationship going.

Some basic rules to start with:

1. Only those with Yade Khan's blessing may use the magic of the Shadow Netherworld.

2. You must bring tribute whenever entering the Shadow Netherworld.

3. Only males in the order. Yade Khan does not want to be inflicted with the presence of mortal women.

4. All duels must be overseen by Yade Khan and abide by the rules she establishes.

5. Yade Khan can dispose of members at any time for any reason.

6. Yade Khan will be treated with utmost respect. No one may touch her without permission or enter her palace without her leave, and none may open any closed doors but her. Death penalty all around.

And some other rules she kept written down to keep track of. She felt she was a cool, undemanding goddess – she didn't tell them how to live their lives, and gave them cool stuff so long as they gave her attention and tribute.

But no touching. She had quickly discovered on inspection how greasy and smelly humans were. And it would seem civilization had lost track of deodorant soap in the intermediate as well.

Forward to the past overall, from what she had seen. The talk was of city-states, tribes, horse nations, and empires. She pondered what cataclysm had set humanity back to swords and sorcery. Did one of the old enemies slip their bonds? Or someone new?

There didn't seem to be a world lousy with fallout or demons out there.

Strange. And she couldn't really inquire directly; that would amount to admitting she was ignorant about their world in a major way. And she couldn't give up that aura of informed coolness.

She had recently finished the Water Ring. She had made it significantly deeper than planned. These last twenty years had been stunningly stimulating. She wondered if she had finished the Water Ring in record time, as it felt, or if it just seemed to go quicker.

She could recall things a bit clearer now as well. The snakes seemed to have stopped talking a few years after the Shadow Walkers started hanging out, wandering the palace with her permission. Sad, but it also felt a bit like a relief for some reason.

She made it up to them with sacrifices. No sooner had she established some groundwork with Himinion than he showed up with a maiden to sacrifice. She had not been sure what to do with the girl, and considered her "no girls" rule being extended to sacrifices. Part of her had urged a flat no, and another to take the girl as a slave for however long she could withstand the Shadow Netherworld. There was even a strange voice suggesting experimentation on her.

Something about that last voice bothered her more than it should have. So, not wanting to offend them by returning a gift, she picked the girl up, snapped her neck with her head tails severely enough for instant death, and let the snakes devour her.

It had become rather routine by now. And followed by the showering of her with gifts she could appreciate. Food was sadly worthless; she could handle about a mouthful a day of most things without vomiting. And it did not keep in her realm. Wood, silk, and other organics also fizzled. It occurred to her Tohru had also hobbled her ability to make potions with this prison. Well played, Big T, well played indeed.

Metal, unless she infused it with shadows or soul, wound up corroding in just a few years.

With two exceptions – silver and gold. And silver merely held up to time, gold was magnificent.

Even in this world, it caught the light so beautifully. It was like the memory of daylight from the days when her blood was meant to be under a blue sky. And it held warmth, its texture so soothing and friendly.

Gold was the one substance she wore to enhance her natural beauty. She wore elaborate ribbons of gold and rings upon her head tails. Bracelets and personally designed armlets on her upper arms. Golden bracers were clasped over her powerful lower forearms. And of course, a number of her fingers were adorned with gold rings. And finally a golden choker and locket adorned her slender neck.

What she did not wear, she worked into the decor. Though she kept many of the pieces as they were. Coins in a display case – she only reused ones she had three others like. And any sculpture or piece that did not offend her got displayed. It was so strange to have things around her to stare at she had not made!

Was this why Jackie worked at a museum?

She had made it very clear that the quickest way to their goddess' heart was through gifts of gold.

And now another group of Shadow Walkers stood before her throne, placing their offerings on the altar.

She had added the altar to the throne room, a respectable distance from her royal perch, and the closest any of them could come to the throne without her express permission. The altar itself was about the size of a table, if only waist height. The top was polished black stone, marbled with blue and red. The sides were carved to resemble a mass of her faithful snakes ready to strike. A little reminder of the seriousness of offerings.

Sadly, these offerings were poor. One had even included a small sack of coveted saffron. She could not fault them for the seemingly sincere gifts, but aside from materials to play with, she simply had little use.

Then the last one dropped two gold coins onto the altar. Jade's eager eyes tracked them as they span out and settled with that delightful gold on stone sound.

"Well done, young Boaz," she addressed him directly. The fat man who had brought the saffron seemed fit to explode at Boaz being singled out. Fool; if he wanted praise from his goddess, he should have bought gold with the money he wasted on dried plants.

It idly occurred to Yade that her hoarding gold might be affecting the Walkers' finances, but that was their problem. The whole point of being a classical style goddess, as far as she was concerned, was doing what you wanted, and others having to deal with the consequences.

She watched Boaz give her an additional bow in appreciation of the honor.

She could recall when his uncle had brought him before her to be marked with the red eye tattoo as a Shadow Walker Acolyte. He came from abroad, apparently; she supposed he was growing into a slightly different look, but then, the Walkers had seemed to be diversifying since expanding their influence to a nearby trading city.

More trade meant more wealth for them, so more gold for her.

As it was, she was pleased at the lean, tall man Boaz had grown into. He trimmed his beard far shorter than the others, and took the time to oil it. His features were a bit lean, but too many of the higher-ups were getting fat for her taste. And most of all, his eyes!

They were a familiar shade of brown, and they held no fear of her. Only reverence, and a desire for power.

Of all those who fell at their feet before her, Boaz alone warranted being remembered as more than a face and line of tribute.

Still, she knew her followers were cutthroat, so she took care to hide the extent of her favor. So for now, she dismissed them, and when they were gone, the snakes emerged from the hidden holes in the walls to gather up the tribute. They took it away to either be regifted like the saffron, stored for use, or the gold brought right to her.

The serpent that brought the coins held them expertly in her mouth, careful not to dent the soft metal. Yade caught them out of the air with two of her head tails. She flipped the coins over in the boneless limb. The nerve tissue she had worked into them had been a great idea, such sensation from the sharp tips to the bases that spread over her scalp, and into her head.

Still, she dropped them into her upper hands to examine them properly. As she thought, excellent thickness, and a high quality, with no trace of red. Hmm, the words seemed a bit familiar?

The sounding of a horn interrupted her gold time. Stashing the coins under a cushion of the throne, she rose back into a regal posture and extended her lower arms to will the doors open.

Himinon entered with that fat eunuch from the city. The one who smelled like he wanted to smell like something else. She noted how old her chief flunky had gotten; he could not really conceal that he used that fancy spear as a walking stick these days.

"Divine and glorious Yade Khan, Queen of the Shadows, whose beauty surpasses all mortal kind! This day, I, your faithful servant, challenge the Himinion for his soul and rank as your right hand!" the eunuch declared, raising a pudgy fist. Yade smiled, raising herself as high as she dared on her tail without the risk of canopy collision.

"To the dueling arena," she declared.

XXX

Yade took the news of the second Himinion's death well enough. For twenty-three years, he had led her cult, taking it from the countryside – bullying peasants and estates for petty cash and marriages – and into the cities. The masses of the city were no less pliable, and the priests in their temples had few true holy men or women among their ranks. In fact, several worshipped her both behind closed door and here in the palace.

And the gold flowed better. Though he annoyingly kept trying to press her into the virtues of other tribute, something about economics and reinvesting assets. She was not letting a speck of her gold leave her realm – she deserved its beauty and comfort after all she had been through.

And unlike his predecessor, he had not had the gumption to go out in anything remotely epic. Dead in his sleep, apparently of natural causes. Yet again he disappointed her. If not for the gold, she might have killed the smelly fat man years ago.

But at least it gave her an opportunity for diversion, as she looked over the eight men who were about to wager their souls in her tournament. Seven would fall, and he who stood would be the third Himinion.

Her eyes swept over them, recalling what she could abut them. Young men hungry for glory, and old men thinking their time had finally come. And then there was Boaz, trying not to smile.

There was so much grey in his hair now. Had it been so long since she had found that boy, truly looking on the histories she had captured in stone? They all marveled at her palace, which naturally surpassed even what the rulers of the local cities possessed, but he was looking. Trying to understand what he was seeing.

She had recalled his eyes then, when he had first looked on her. Fearless eyes – he really did see her beauty and found wonder in her existence. A certain self-honest part of her mind actually spoke loud enough to be heard, letting her appreciate what had come to her.

She had kept her observations of the boy as he wandered the palace on his visits, or when the senior Walkers passed on the lessons she had bestowed on her followers. They had come far from those petty hacks that had stumble-bumbled into her realm. Back then, they had not even understood shadow magic as being distinct and fully independent of dark magic!

She had not even told them a half-a-quarter of the secrets she had come to understand in the shadows, and yet she understood their power to be feared by all those who practiced the art in its secret circles across the lands.

And young Boaz took to it so well. He seemed to understand it was not just a tool, but not falling into some spiritual balance nonsense. He saw it as the extension of his will, his self. Without having to be taught.

She had revealed her interest as he had walked the Water Ring; leaving some discussion with his peers, she had followed beneath the inky waters. What had been intended as a reflecting pool had become deep enough for her to comfortably swim in. Though her swimming was just as much about controlling the shadow water as the powerful strokes of her tail.

She had been waiting to meet him alone there, so she could rise dramatically from the depths, like something that HP man had written.

Her instruction – both in magics higher than she had granted to the common followers and revealing choice bits of the legends and histories of a world long past – was carefully hidden. Her favor towards her chosen one would only be revealed at the ideal time. Unlike Jackie and Uncle, she had been sure to look after the interests of her prodigy.

Yade Khan raised all her limbs and gave a deep roar, signaling the beginning of the tournament for the Himinion mantle.

XXX

The young wizard was staggering, his blue head-wrap long since slipped away to reveal disheveled, curly, dark hair. Yade could tell he was stunned by his defeat, the doom about to take him. Boaz stood in complete contrast. His blacks and blues were impeccable, his expression serene, only a quirk in his lips hinting at the satisfaction he felt. Even his arms were crossed behind his back, an arrogant gesture in a duel.

Not that it mattered; with a word, he sent his red dragon homunculi charging over the broken remains of his foe's forces. The loser went flying, fading before he hit a statue of El Toro Fuerte. The impact must not have killed him, because his soul surged across the distance to dive into Boaz's eyes.

Yade clapped her hands together, rising from her couch. The Shadow Walkers filled the dueling court, pressed in tight amongst the statues of great human warriors she had decorated the space with. And still more waited beyond the court to hear the outcome. Looking over them, she raised her arms and head tails.

"It is done. Hail to your Himinion, first among my servants!" she declared, loud enough to be heard beyond the court's bounds.

The crowd parted for Boaz as he dismissed his homunculi, the shadows they changed into flying back into the uncorked bottles on his belt. As he approached her viewing box, he recorked the bottles and then drew that bronze sword of his. She smiled widely as the way opened for him, the man who defeated the best in the order without suffering a single blow of note.

Fear and awe was thick in the air, and now he laid his blade on the black tiles of the court and kneeled before her, planting his fist on the stones.

"A fine victory. You are indeed worthy to lead the Shadow Walkers. But now I ask you, my third Himinion, what shall you lead them to?" Yade Khan inquired. He raised his head to meet her gaze, and smiled.

"To glory and power such that I will eclipse what my predecessors achieved. To build an empire worthy of my goddess, the great and ancient Yade Khan," he declared to her and all assembled.

XXX

She was not entirely sure what she had expected. Yade had known that Boaz was far more special than the others, but she admitted to being stunned. Shadow Walkers like she had never seen stood before her. They wore cloaks of black, with hoods of blue and their faces half-covered in cloth masks of black. Beneath that, they wore scaled armor of iron and spears tipped with the same metal. They stood in a square of thirty-five before her throne, Boaz before them as two more of the warriors emptied a trunk-sized chest on the altar. Gold coins spilled out onto and off of the altar.

"As of today, the city is ours, my goddess. The hinterlands fall before my warriors, and the mages terrify the masses into submission. Already, your secret worshippers in the King's court plant the seeds of doubt in toying with your forces. The war is already over, even if that fool does not realize it. Soon, the wealth of the city will strengthen our order, and their gold shall flow into your palace," Himinion Boaz announced.

Jade looked at all the gold glittering before her. And it was hers, all hers. The possibilities…

"In anticipation of this day, I have two more items for your consideration," he continued. At the snap of his fingers, two more mages emerged from the shadows (she so knew they were there). One held a large scroll, which he placed on a clear portion of the altar. The other held something wrapped in purple cloth.

"These are the plans for a glorious temple to your glory to be erected within the center of the city. As you are an unmatched maker of wonders, it seems only proper that your wisdom be consulted on this matter.

"And here, I would remedy the one flaw of the Grand Palace of the Shadow Netherworld," he continued. That snapped her out of staring at the pile of gold.

"The Grand Palace is without flaw, Himinion," she hissed, her tails twitching in irritation. Yet he still showed no fear, simply stepping over to the man holding the wrapped object.

"I must differ. It has no depiction of its creator and goddess. Until now," Boaz stated. He pulled the purple cloth clear, revealing a statuette nearly a foot tall. It was of her, her divine form captured in gold. Without thinking, she slithered down a column and moved around the altar to where Boaz held out the beauty.

She took it in her lower hands and gently touched it with her tails as her upper hands drew closer to her chest. So beautiful, and unlike anything ever presented to her. The offerings, even the sacrifices, she understood were merely treasure thrown at her feet. Bribes and apologies, no thought on why she wanted it or what she wanted beyond what kind of thing she liked.

Not since ages before the shadows claimed her for the final time had she received a true gift.

She realized, as she looked at herself, that her own story was not seen as her own. Jade Chan was a recurring figure in the palace art, but nothing from after the red mask. Even clever Boaz looked at that hero's epic and did not see it was her past. Just another legend upon the walls, another hero or fiend honored for reasons only Yade Khan understood.

"Come with me to a bedchamber," she commanded. The stoic clever man's eyes widened in surprise. She never allowed anyone in those chambers; to enter was death. She heard him following as she slithered out of the room, snakes starting to fly through the air about her as she smiled.

XXX

Yade still felt the heat rolling within her, but a certain anxiousness was taking hold as the snakes pulled the door closed behind them. She wondered if he was disappointed to find this forbidden bedchamber merely held the different styles of beds she had accumulated over her ages. Simple mats on the floor, a fine four-poster, a round couch for coiling, an extra long one for her full length, and a spire with softened edges designed specifically to accommodate sleeping positions no human would be able to assume.

Maybe she should have taken the time to dust first? Or picked one of the more impressively decorated ones, rather than this, the closest one?

Watching him quietly inspect the spire, perhaps wondering its purpose, she realized a bigger problem. How did she go about this again?

The last time had been Paco, after her near death in Andorra. She felt, at the time, his popping the question to her afterwards was poorly timed. She had been in the grips of realizing that three years mostly trapped behind a desk as Section 13's head had indeed rusted her skills. And earlier that day had discovered her first grey hair before she had even turned thirty.

He may have seen the circumstances as seizing the day because there might not be tomorrow. She had not seen it as such, nor responded with the grace he had been more than due. And of course, not a year later, the Black Magus had made his first move. And everything had been too frantic and increasingly desperate for any attempt at reconciliation.

Honestly, had she even thought about it once from the mask till now?

Speaking of which…

'Where did I put it?' Jade wondered, a hand probing the spot that was between her former legs. Just solid muscle that gave way to the snake belly further down.

This was embarrassing! How did you admit to something like that? Did she still even have it somewhere, she wondered with frustration. She didn't recall disposing of it, but then, she had encountered some unintended side effects she had cut off over the course of becoming herself. Had it slipped away at some point?

"Is it true you grew everything here from a single rock?" Boaz asked her. Jarred from her thoughts, she looked at him. And decided to just see what happened.

"No, I had to make the rock myself too," she answered, calmly raising herself up on her tingling tail. She seized his shoulders with her upper arms, and tore his robes off with the lower ones. Her head tails tore the head wrap off, revealing the full head of silver hair. Pulling him into her coils, she began to squeeze his neck with as many tails as she could wrap about it, the rest seizing his arms to tighten. She took care of herself with her arms; the tails big and small were for him.

Several snaps and near last gasps later, she felt the need. And clamped her unhinged jaw over the tower half of his face, a thick forked tongue forcing his gasping mouth open. Biting down on her own tongue as hard as she could, she felt bliss.

Releasing Boaz to fall to the floor, green and purple chi rising from his body, Yade pulled herself into the poster bed and collapsed, black formless dreams claiming her as soon as her arms gave out beneath her.

The fact he woke up before her was quite inconsiderate, she thought. She could sense him sitting on the mat as she came to on the bed. She hissed irritably, her head tails lethargically bobbing about while she pushed herself upright.

That had escalated quickly, she admitted. And she was almost certain that was not even close to what she used to do with Paco.

"Divine one, my thanks for this great gift," Boaz said. She did not appreciate it; she had a headache. Not just her skull – the tails were aching too. She was going to take the rings off them after he left, it might help.

She finally cracked her eyes open as she turned her head to look at him. Her surprise made her head jerk around her body in a motion that would have been fatal for a human. She was glad his eyes were closed, so as to not see her slack-jawed surprise.

She had been surprised Boaz was fit to gather himself from what she recalled of the… coupling. But contrary to expectations, her Himinion looked good. Very good. Like a man back in his early twenties. In fact, exactly like that.

'I didn't know I could do that,' Yade thought, stunned.

Ponder later, save face now.

"You have served me well for many years, and now for your exceptional services I return a number of those years to you. That you might continue to serve well," Yade Khan told him, composing herself to rest on her coil in a dignified manner.

She maintained the posture through his thanks, brow-pressing bow, and snake-escorted departure. Then fell back on herself limply, and with her purple tongue dangling out, began to snore anew.

XXX

Boaz's rejuvenation proved to be more than a way to reward him. Word spread quickly that Yade Khan could restore a man's youth if he lay with her. Not entirely accurate, but the prospect of being able to stave off old age certainly motivated the Shadow Walkers. And the well-known old wizard who had conquered them assuming his earthly throne as a young man convinced the masses of the vast power, and indeed divine patronage, their new rulers had.

Unsurprisingly, youth did not make Himinion Boaz the Great less ambitious. As time passed, and his rule became secure, and the worship of and offerings to Yade Khan became vaster and richer, he turned his eyes to other cities and lands.

For each new city he brought under her banner, he would present a member of its ruling family to be consumed by her snakes, and a new statue of herself to represent the accomplishment.

And she rewarded him – and treated herself – with a coupling per golden delight. Fifty years of ruling, and he remained a young and strong man, seasoned with all those decades of rule, mystic learning, and successful conquest.

Yade even took the time to build a grand new courtyard separate from the one designed to hold statues of the Himinions past, present, and future. Dominated by a statue of him rendered in polished black and blue marble, the murals of the courtyard wall depicted his life and achievements.

Soon enough, he was discussing with her a potential war with Persia. Apparently, the human race held tight to some ideas, and the Persians were not only back, but also the big dogs again, getting unnerved by the Himinate's rapid rise to power in the region.

He expected they would be ready for war within five years. The most recent conquest had gone easier than usual. The small border kingdom betrayed by the King's own younger brother. Yade admitted the betrayed King had more dignity than many. He had kept his honor and composure right up until the snakes sunk their teeth into his flesh. His brother, on the other hand, was a pansy in the same circumstances.

Boaz informed her of the only flaw in such a perfect operation. Apparently, one of the tough King's sons had escaped. The youngest, and with him under the protection of some kind of genuinely powerful priests in Persia, he was effectively beyond the Walkers' reach.

He assured her that a mere boy was no threat to the Himinate. But Yade felt a certain wariness; the boy's escape from slaughter into the hands of powerful foes… It seemed familiar in a way she could not quite place.

Then, Boaz was dead.

XXX

The news had shocked her speechless. And for once, she had not cared about her lackeys seeing it.

Some ladder-climber she had noticed a time or two came in and claimed the title Himinion. Apparently, after poisoning Boaz and giving him the equivalent of a Rasputin assassination, he had killed the Himinion, and by right of doing so now claimed the rank and the Himinate.

"You are correct, you have that right. I see the years begin to press on you," Yade Khan said, descending from her throne. Pulling herself into a circle perched on the altar, she beckoned the weasely mage.

"Come, step into my coils and know my passion," She commanded. He came eagerly, even pulling off his head wrap and casting his belt off.

Yade didn't use her head tails or her arms; she wrapped him in her great coil gently. Then tighter, and tighter, and tighter, and tighter… By the time he realized the need to scream, he could not.

She did not stop until her coils were sliding over each other, the body not fading as it did when the soul was taken. Instead, it bubbled and melted; she could feel the heat through her scales and ignored it, sliding off the altar as his remains blackened her scales.

"You," she pointed to the Shadow Walker who seemed least fazed by what he had witnessed.

"The Fourth Himinion's reign had come to an end. Lead as you see fit until I get back, Fifth Himinion," she told him and those assembled. She did not speak a word as she made her way to the Water Ring.

She slid into the cold, inky water, to ease her tail and weep unwitnessed.

XXX

She had thought loss was beyond her. That time had taken that from her. It had not, and the revelation only made the pain worse. She only broke the surface to take deep breaths, letting her linger beneath for a long time. No projects, no experiments; she lay circled up on the artificial lakebed, slithered along it, or swam through the depths.

Thinking, mourning, and doing little, and finding it oddly soothing for a change.

But time passes, and she deemed it was time to emerge and sleep. A terrible day, indeed. But since the Walkers' arrival, tomorrow had regained a true meaning.

The Walkers she passed on her way back to the throne room were quicker than usual to bow to her. No doubt afraid, with the murder fresh in their mind.

Smug satisfaction gave way to surprise when she reached the throne room. The altar was buried under a mass of gold, and two statues of herself glistened before it, resting on the floor. Snatching the sculptures up, one to each pair of hands, she turned to the nearest attendant Walker.

"How did you manage to get this together so quickly?" Yade demanded.

"We have gathered this treasure in your five-year absence in the hope you would return to us from the dark waters, Divine One," the Walker answered.

Yade Khan felt very tired. And when she reached the nearest bedchamber and curled up with the sculptures, she had a feeling sleep would not lessen the feeling much.

XXX

Yade had never blessed a war before. But she didn't see a good way to dodge the new Himinion's request. Apparently, the only thing keeping the man she had picked before in power was her absence and fear of her wrath. When it became clear this man did not have her true favor, he had been swiftly dueled and disposed of.

Now this new one wanted to conquer Persia, and he wanted her blessings to do it. Boaz had believed more time would be needed, but this new guy was insistent, and had tales of the gold-paved streets of the enemy capital.

She didn't believe that, but his petitions for war grew irksome and he hadn't done anything that made her feel he deserved to be killed. So for gold, glory, power, and shutting the Sixth Himinion up, she was now blessing the war.

Which apparently meant blessing a bunch of mage spearmen and Shadow Walkers. She simply drew an X mark on the brows of the Walkers, using her chi to have it form a blue tattoo in that shape. For the spearmen, she tapped their spearheads with a claw, making it flare blue or red.

There was no real magic, just theatrics. Boaz had gotten by fine without this, she noted sourly. And exactly how many of these humans were in this line!?

XXX

She knew she should have known; it really was obvious, looking back. The first year or so had been of great victories, of tales of battles and sieges. Then it trickled to a halt, along with the impressive swag. At least this Himinion did not waste time with lesser tribute; he gave her gold and kept the rest.

But when the tribute started back, it seemed uniform measured. Even the statues came with only hasty tales. And then how her snakes had caught acolytes trying to steal some of her treasure. Perhaps she should have questioned them instead of strangling them to death? Or at least questioned them before killing them.

But now the trio of Shadow Walkers before her had made the situation clear.

"I see, and you allowed him to deceive me so long?" she demanded, closing her eyes. Their fear stank up the place. The Walkers had been hanging around less these last years too, she noted. They only really came with the Himinion, which she now understood why.

"He declared you had closed the palace to any but those in his company until the shameful defeats were undone. We suspected, but felt certain you knew what was happening, Divine One, but we know your power would only fail so in the hands of the unworthy," the grey-bearded apparent leader of the trio informed her.

'And now it's looking like 1945 out there, with my side as the bad guys apparently,' she thought grimly. King Cheherazad, who was apparently that prince that slipped past Boaz all those years ago, had proven to be a big fucking hero. His leadership on the battlefield had turned the basic war. And somehow they had figured out how to draw duels into the material world.

Her elites had been dueled to death, by a bunch of Persian goody-two-shoes and their friends, lead by a guy who probably had stupid hair! And now only the besieged capital was left, with the Himinion unleashing the deadliest magics he had gathered, in the hopes of destroying his enemies in the trap.

It would not work, of course; she knew this formula. The first Himinate was done. Yade Khan turned her attention back to the Walkers.

"Go, order the Himinion to lure this Cheherazad into the Shadow Netherworld – he will duel his last before the gates of my Grand Palace. Once he is vanished from your world, flee. When the dust has settled, return. Let them pull down the temples. I raised your forefathers up from little better than charlatans. The next empire will be better and far stronger," she commanded.

Once they departed, Yade let out a long sigh. Well, she decided, best scrub up some. It seemed soon she'd be entertaining royalty and a hero all rolled into one.

XXX

Cheherazad watched impassively as the Himinion pleaded for his dark goddess' intervention. It did not come, and the man faded from sight, his soul taking flight. The King dismissed the soul, neither taking it for himself like these fiends nor sending it back to his enemy.

"And now all the souls he held in bondage are free to go their way, even as he faces judgment," Cheherazad stated. The duel had been the hardest of his life; clearly he controlled so many powerful men by being able to bring them to heel. And this place he had forced him into…

The Shadow Netherworld. He could feel its atmosphere trying to get a hold of him, for death or corruption he could not say. His training let his soul light protect him, but for how long?

To one side lay a desolate plain of black stone. And before him stood a wall, that curved away in either direction. With how slight the curve was on closer inspection, he realized it was a city beyond the gate barred against him.

And somewhere in that city was the Grand Palace of Yade Khan. The priests had made it clear that until the outsider was destroyed or sealed anew, there would be no peace. The elemental realms were meant to be pure, and this creature, even if she was a rogue god, disrupted its balance.

"Yade Khan! I, King Cheherazad, the Chosen of the Light, have come to your gates! Open the way and face me!" he declared.

A rumble greeted his declaration; he stepped back as the black stone gates swung outward. A statue awaited on the other side. Rendered in a dark gray, it showed a strangely dressed man wielding some manner of sword, as if facing an unseen foe.

Well, rumor had it that the ancient abomination decorated her realm with depictions of vanquished foes and her demonic kinsmen. There seemed a nobility in the man's bearing, and Cheherazad made a silent promise to the ancient warrior to finish the task.

But stepping through the gate, he was brought up short, as water spread around. Or was it? The winds of this realm disturbed their stillness, but beneath the walkways such as he stood on, and buildings raised on thick pillars, spread an expanse of black water.

He could barely see another wall like the one that had guarded the city through the gray fog rising around him.

"What is this? An abandoned city of demons? The defector did say that Yade Khan was the last of her race. Was this their city?" he wondered aloud, walking down the path.

The King drew his sword and let the light of the souls within shine, lighting his way. Ahead of him, the path lowered to just barely rise above the inky lake's surface. The way was lined by still more statues, obscenities and monsters mocking him from the mists.

"There is only the way forward! Yade Khan, I will not be turned aside!" he shouted.

"No need to shout," A deep voice rasped. To his left, the waters rippled, and a snake broke the surface. A snake with no head. Followed by another and another, waving through the air, until eight were displaying themselves, the gold rings adorning them glittering in the light cast by the sword.

Yade Khan rose before him, stunning beyond the depictions in the dark temples. The gold she adorned herself with, he realized, made even her comely in a way that puzzled and disturbed his mind. Smiling, she displayed her fangs, pulling herself from the water to block the path before him.

"This is not a city. This is my Grand Palace of the Shadow Netherworld. And I inherited none of it. I crafted this place and the plain beyond from nothing but the vapors of shadow. It stands as a testament to my power, my patience, and my utter understanding of the shadows," she told him.

"Demon! I, Cheherazad, last son of-"

"That guy and brother of this, rightful King of that, etc. Have come to avenge them against my foul foulness. That about what you were going to say?" Yade Khan laughed.

"You mock me? Even as your empire crumbles about you!?" He demanded.

"You have only defeated servants who have disappointed me.

"Long ago, when I was but a child, I aided my kin in defeating a fire demon who had stolen twelve sacred powers. I struck the mortal blow and aided in the banishing of every last one of his kinsmen. I could list victory after victory against forces greater than you could imagine, before I was even seen as an adult by my people.

"I did such was I was young, my body weak and frail, my magic budding and uncontrolled. And you think I should respect you, a mere mortal? Now, when I have become stronger and more ancient in magic than you can grasp?

"Fool," she laughed. Reaching into a pouch, he drew a dueling tile and threw it to the ground. She watched, fascinated, as a five-colored light rose from it instead of the usual swirling shadows.

"Light, fire, earth, water, and wind. So that's how you people bootlegged my mojo. But you are in the shadows now," Yade smiled. Her main tail struck out, the tip striking the tile with the force of much of her might behind it. The tile exploded under the impact, sending the warrior king flying back.

Iron and leather took some of the pain as he rolled. Looking up, he saw the smoke clear, sealing a hole in the walkway, and Yade Khan unharmed. His sword was between the two of them, glowing brightly.

She stopped and watched him run for the glowing blade.

"Forget it, boy. Your magic may be strong, but my power is far greater. I can sense your ignorance. The power you wield could certainly destroy that failure outside, and may even have been enough to face Boaz. But you are a mouse facing the serpent. Come, let me show you eternity," Yade Khan laughed as he picked up the Sun Blade.

"You are wrong! It is not my power you face, it is the power of what is good in this world. Each of the five remaining elemental worlds gave their blessings to this blade, and ten priests and priestesses of the gods who watch over this world willingly gave their lives so that their souls could strengthen this blade.

"Its light will end your wickedness! The world strikes with me!" he roared, charging the beast. She raised her arms wide, and he thrust the blade up toward her heart.

Ping!

The shining blade rebounded off the armor, and the King's momentum carried him into the beast's belly. It was like hitting a stone wall. Dazed, he cried out as one of her smaller hands jerked the sword from his hand, while the lower hands grabbed him by the wrists and lifted him off the ground.

The front two of her head tails wrapped around his neck, tightening.

"Well, wasn't that thrilling? And by the way, you plus twenty priests is hardly the might of the world. And I have been experimenting with soul-enhanced weapons for quite a while. Did you think I would not take measures against anything my own followers might try?" she shook her head, chuckling. Holding up the blade, one of the remaining tails traced a path along the blade, and then tapped it twice, producing ringing notes.

The willing souls took flight before his eyes, going to whatever waited beyond.

"You know, you have actually gotten me feeling a bit frisky for the first time since Boaz. But in addition to not wanting to make the whole 'dark side cookies' speech, I really hate your hair. Really, you're supposed to be Ancient Middle East knock-offs, what is with the blonde highlight?" she demanded.

'This demon really is mad,' Cheherazad thought as he strained against his bonds. No good, this monster was even stronger than she looked, apparently.

"And understand this. I built my empire up from nothing, literally in the case of this world. As long as men willing to make deals can reach me, it's only a matter of time until I can have them build new empires in my name, and reap the rewards I want from them.

"All you have done is set me back a bit. But I think I will keep you around to witness it. Your soul sealed in the blade you thought could kill a goddess. A fitting punishment, I would say," Yade Khan bared her hands. Shadows swirled from her hand, weaving through the now dull blade.

"As someone who has been sealed, let me just say it sucks without power. Later!" she told him cheerfully. The blade pierced his chest. But he hardly felt it.

'This, this is what it is like to lose your soul…' he realized, as light swept over his being.

"Ha, Ha!" Yade laughed, as the first clean-shaved man she had seen in quite a while faded from sight, and the blade began to glow. And glow brighter, and hotter.

"What the?!" Yade cried, as a sun seemed to burst into being just beyond the hilt.

The skin on the arm peeling, she threw the blade away. It tore through the outer wall and then vanished in a flash. Only the flash lingered, and grew explosively in a grid pattern. The pattern grew thinner as she watched it fill the sky and fade from sight. But she could feel it wasn't gone.

And feel something had just changed about the Shadow Netherworld.

XXX

They weren't coming back, Yade had realized.

Even without anyone to hide a true name from, she did not feel like going by Jade again right now. She had chosen it as the closest form to an apology to Paco as she could manage, and a nod to her race with the Khan bit.

And Jade would have just snapped the guy's neck in her situation, rather than get beaten like this.

She had waited patiently for her surviving followers to return. Or just for someone else to find their way here. But even in the time taken to build a new ring and expand the Black Plain still farther, no one had come.

She was not sure what Cheherazad had done, or how. But he had closed whatever hole the Shadow Walkers had found in her prison. And the seal she could feel was on the other side of the realm's membranes. There was nothing she could do.

She could not be a goddess without worshippers; she was the Queen of the empty kingdom once more.

The newest ring she dedicated to her time as a goddess, once more attended by her faithful snakes in full. They had some resentment for being set aside. But they were not too sore. After all, whatever distracted her for brief time, they would be with her for eternity, they would indulge her little deviances with mortals.

She still had the gold, at least. She used it to decorate her favorite places in the palace. As for the golden likenesses, she built shrines to herself in the innermost rings and placed them in spots of honor there.

After so long being adored, the isolation seemed heavier, the silence and vastness of the palace deeper. But she was certain, that in time, routine would fill the void again.

She had been extending the island down into a wedge shape, along with spreading the plain. Perhaps she could eventually rid herself of the "edge" by creating a truly massive sphere?

But then what?

'Then what?' Yade Khan thought, curling up at the bottom of a black lake on a bed of gold.

_Iran, 1987:_

Johann Brenner stooped down as he descended. The secret entrance was as described in the text. The temple above was an isolated ruin, but he had spent enough time investigating these claims to sense it. This place was not dead to history.

Something remained here, something powerful.

The Zoroastrian occultists had offered him little in the way of answers. And if his source was to be believed, much of the true power he had witnessed, without them knowing, came from a source that predated their influence over Ancient Persia.

The stories were always the same, it seemed. Remnants that were mere shadows of long lost glory, or mystics blind to the material world they actually lived in.

The corridor ended, and he brushed his mustache with the back of his gloved hand. The door sign was illuminated by his helmet – a warning, and the symbol of Cheherazad the Sun Soul, over a depiction of his female adversary.

Yade Khan the Deathless, a creature supposedly untouched by time, an immortal who could bind the souls of the dead and restore youth and vitality to the living. A foe of mankind.

He pushed it open, and light streamed out.

"Fantastic," the middle-aged man whispered.

It was just like the sanctuaries he had found in the mountains to the west. Those small communities where the worship of Yade Khan endured, bypassed by the Abrahamic faiths, in their insular existences that had endured the millennia.

The same style of stone carving, supposedly passed down from the goddess herself.

But none of them had a sword, glowing as if it was fashioned from a piece of the sun, planted in the floor.

"The Sword of Cheherazad, the container of a Sun Soul, and the bane of the dark goddess," Brenner said to himself, crossing the small distance to stand over the blade. It was in the center of a design, one of the spell carvings the Zoroastrians had used in their secret true rituals.

Only this one was so complex he could not be sure, even with his studies, what it was for.

"Key, to power undying, bound?" he tried to interpret what was before him. No matter, he knew what he had come for. Time was against him; it was time to leap down the rabbit hole in earnest.

Reaching into his shirt, he pulled out a silver medallion stolen at great expense from one of those pagan villages. It vibrated in his hand, shadow responding to a Sun Soul's presence.

"Now, Cheherezad, let's see what we can do for each other, hmm?" Brenner said, grabbing the hilt of the sword in both hands.

The blade came free with surprising ease, and he held it up over his head.

'Heh, "I have the power!",' He thought to himself with amusement. A figure formed from the light, and he was surprised to find himself facing a man with dark and blonde hair wearing ancient armor, and a purple cloak.

"King Cheherazad? You are much younger than I was lead to expect. No beard either… and blonde?" Breenner remarked. It was true – here was the power to defy mortality!

"Fool! The seal is broken!" the phantom bellowed. The sword turned hot, prompting Brenner to drop it. The phantom vanished, but the sword ignited the stone around them, illuminating the battle between the ancient King and his foe in a far more sinister light. The fire spread to cover the door.

"Trapped?! Get me out of here!" He pleaded, despite being alone. But the medallion in his fist stopped vibrating and grew ice cold.

"Wha-ahhhhhh!" Brenner screamed, as the ground beneath his feet fell away, and darkness surrounded him. In the darkness, he plummeted through a door of light that opened in the path of his fall. Clutching onto the medallion for dear life, he passed from one darkness into another.

XXX

Yade was taking a break from building decorating. This obelisk had been a favorite, but it was more of a pillar now, she noted as she coiled and rubbed herself against it tightly. It was to smooth, at this rate it would be nearly reflective. Smooth and unresisting was no good for a good coil grind, she lamented as she rubbed herself against the stone.

She pulled her cheek away from the black stone, rotating her head to look about.

Could it be?

Oh yes, it was. With a gesture, she called the attendant snakes to her.

"Gather all the others. Bring the wizard to the road. The way is open at last!" Her laughter followed the green-eyed serpents as they flew off to do their mistress' bidding.

* * *

**Author's Note:**

_This story has quite bit of life of its own. Th second age surprised me with some of thee developments. Boaz originally was goung to unnamed like the other Himinions for instance. Not as intimate a bond either in the planning stage. Sorry if it offends in bizarreness._

_The next chapter has Yade Khan taking on an all too familiar role in the modern era. That chapter I expect to be quite a bit longer than this one. But that length and the call of other projects means chapter three will likely be a time in coming._

_Hope you enjoyed the strangeness as the girl from Hong Kong continues her journey through the Ages of Shadow._

_Third Age: The Menace_

_Until next time, long days and pleasant nights to you all._


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